More About Television in Australia

I expect last weeks post about football on digital TV did an efficient job of selling the Foxtel package to any red bloodied football loving fanatic. But how are you going to sell a $100 plus package to your better half?

You can, of course, just go for the Sports Pack and the basic channels and try to sell the $56 a month idea instead, but I can already hear everyone else in your family saying “but what’s in it for me?”

So bite the bullet, go for the full package and start waxing lyrically about the joys of digital television. And there’s plenty to wax lyrically about, starting with UK TV!

First, let’s get the bad news out of the way. No Wossy!

Not yet anyway, I live in hope.

Back to UK TV. With UK TV, which comes in the “My Escape” package, ($16 a month), you can enjoy Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, The Bill, Casualty, Holby City, Doctor Who, Little Britain and so much more. Hey! It’s like you never left home.

We are currently riveted by the latest series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! – although we are somewhat behind you in the UK. Here, Robert Kilroy Silk and Dani Behr have already been evicted whilst Timmy Mallet and David Van Day are getting on everybody’s nerves. But I know that back in England, you have already seen who won it. Shhh, keep it under your hat.

That’s one of the quirky things about Australian TV. For some series we are well behind. But for others we can be the first country to see it. Because there are only 20 million people here instead of say, 300 million in the States, this is a good place to test a new series. On the other hand, it’s not a good place to sell a tried and trusted series. Australia doesn’t pay as much money as the USA would.

Now I am not a Corrie or an Ender. So I have no idea if they are behind or up-to-date. So perhaps you can tell by today’s write-ups.

Coronation Street

Maria is dazed as she emerges from the consulting room – how will she tell Liam about the baby? Meanwhile, Audrey and Ted meet up after fifty years apart. But does Ted have an ulterior motive?

EastEnders.

Shirley and Heather try to find George Michael’s house and have some problems along the way. Garry is trying to cope with his rejection from Dawn, and Whitney goes on a date with a friend of Ricky’s.

Mean anything?

Elsewhere, and part of the basic package is the interestingly named channel Fox8. Last night, we watched the finale of American Idol. The show has Simon Cowell on his best form and is a reasonable replacement for The X-Factor, which we haven’t seen here.

If these programmes haven’t got your wife begging you to sign up for the full package, then you will have to try emotional blackmail. This only works if you have children. The My Playtime package ($16) has Cbeebies, Nick Jr and Playhouse Disney and more.

Other packages include My World ($16), which now has BBC Knowledge showing two-year old versions of Dragon’s Den, The Apprentice, and The Restaurant, that sort of thing. But I am thinking more towards the future. In two more years time it will all be fresh content.

There are two lots of movie channels with the My Movie Network and My Showtime packages ($16 each). In all, there are six $16 packages that can be added on top of the $40 basic pack. Added up separately that would of course come to $136 a month, but the full package as mentioned last week is only $106. So if all else fails in your attempts to justify the expense, simply explain to your wife that you know how to save $30 a month every month.

I'm BobinOz and I moved to Australia in November 2007 after living in England for a very long time. Why did I move and what's it like here? All this and more answered right here at Bobinoz. Click here to read more on my about me page.